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Teachers Union Educate Kids on 'Trickle Down' Economics

Teachers are given the incredible responsibility of educating children. Around the world, parents entrust these men and women to spend their days educating children with the expectation that they will stick to the curriculum and leave personal beliefs at home. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Teachers Unions have become powerful forces in education, making it difficult to discipline or fire teachers for overstepping their set responsibilities. As teachers become more comfortable with sharing their values in the classroom, parents need to be vigilant about knowing what these values are. A cartoon recently released by the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), and affiliate of the AFL-CIO demonstrates just how far-left official teachers’ groups have become, and makes one wonder how much of this will make its way into the classroom.

This cartoon, Tax the RIch: An Animated Fairy Tale, is narrated by notable millionaire actor and self-professed socialist Ed Asner, and animated by Mike Konopacki, an artist specializing in political cartoons, especially those dealing with labor issues. The eight-minute film was directed by CFT’s Fred Glass, who was paid a salary of $139,800 in 2011. None of these men are strangers to wealth, but this doesn’t stop them from depicting the wealthy as despicable people in the film that the group says is about “widening economic inequality.”

Tax the Rich tells a story in which people become wealthy by dodging their tax responsibilities. When the 99 percenters fight back, the video has a rather colorful and disgusting way of pushing their message of class warfare- a wealthy man is depicted urinating on those protesting his unwillingness to give more money to the government. Apparently, this is how the CFT chooses to convey the concept of “trickle down,” economics. Notably absent from this story is any mention of the insatiable government considering a cut in spending.

Glass says that, with this video, “The CFT is working on helping citizens understand growing economic inequality and the need to restore higher tax rates for the wealthy in order to fund necessary public services,” and is not intended to be shown in schools. Regardless, parents should be very concerned that these are the people educating their children, and that an official organization would create such a video. Ladies and gentleman, this is the modern day teachers union. Remember....everything they say they're doing is "for the children."

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to support the Student Empowerment Act, S. 3102, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). This bill will further expand 529 education savings accounts to include K-12 elementary and secondary school expenses for public, private, and religious schools, including homeschool students.

Masked as “helping the poor,” the left is on a crusade for equality of outcome. Stripped from the Marxist playbook of class warfare, equality of outcome has become their chief principle. In a word search of a 2015 Democratic presidential debate Wall Street was mentioned 23 times, tax 20 times, inequality 9 times and wealthy 7 times. ISIS, freedom, debt and liberty were mentioned a total of 5 times. This notion is further exemplified by their latest outrage against repealing the death tax. Doing so, according to the left, would give children of the top 1 percent an "unfair" cheat code to hang around the top 1 percent. Solely focused on inequality, the left ignores the devastating consequences of this tax on the middle and lower class.

We are proud to award Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) bill to abolish the Department of Education, H.R. 899, as FreedomWorks’ Bill of the Month for March. His bill, only a sentence long in length, reads, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.”

On February 9, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) introduced H.R. 999 to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to expand access to Coverdell education savings accounts. This bill has bipartisan support and will help millions of Americans struggling to pay for education. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and urge him or her to support the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (A-PLUS) Act, H.R. 719, introduced by Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.). This bill will put education back in the hands of local and state governments.

Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee held an additional hearing about the proposed implementation regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As noted before, the proposed regulations go well beyond the law passed by Congress as the Department of Education (DOEd) continues seeking to meddle in local schools. The testimony of the witnesses highlights the need for public input pushing back on the federal government’s proposed regulations, which include a potential back door route to reimpose Common Core mandates on the states.

Last month's proposed rules on school accountability are yet another reminder that it’s time for federal bureaucrats at the Department of Education to get their hands out of our education system. In its latest power grab, the department seeks to enact top-down measures that would remove authority from the hands of teachers, school districts, and state government. The regulation would impose Education Department-mandated accountability measures promulgating federal government oversight over student and school achievement.

Yesterday's proposed rules on school accountability are yet another reminder that it’s time for federal bureaucrats at the Department of Education to get their hands out of our education system. In its latest power-grab, the department seeks to enact top-down measures that would remove authority from the hands of teachers, school districts, and state government. The regulation would impose Education Department-mandated accountability measures promulgating federal government oversight over student and school achievement.

In an attempt to circumvent Congress and move the free college agenda forward, The White House will launch a $100 million grant program for free community college tuition. The new program, America’s Promise Grants, was unveiled last week by Vice President Biden in a speech at the Community College of Philadelphia.